Machine for preparing wood for fuel



N0. 609,||4. Patented Aug. l6, I893. W. S. MUNDAY. MACHINE FOR PREPARINGWOOD FOR FUEL.

(Application filed Aug. 13, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet, I.

(No Model.)

N0. 609,!l4. Patented Aug. l6, I898. W. S. MUNDAY. MACHINE FOR PREPARINGWOOD FOR FUEL.

(Application filed Aug. 13, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

illllllllllllll I II 1 pi 'lflllllll wi t macaw NITE STATES;

PATENT .FFICE.

WILLIAM S. MUNDAY, OF I-IATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO SARAH Z. COHEN, OF NEW ORLEANS,

LOUISIANA.

MACHINE FOR PREPARING wooo FOR FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Past No. 6o9,114=, deted A gust16,1898. Application filed August 13,1897. Serial No. 648,142. (Nomodel.)

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM S. MUNDAY,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Hat tiesburg, in the countyof Perry and State of Mississippi, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Preparing WVood for Fuel, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Heretofore wood has been disintegrated by 10 machinery to render it fitfor readyignition to be used principally for kindling fires. Specialmachinery has been devised for cutting and preparing such wood, and Inow seek to improve such machinery as well as the article producedthereby.

According to my present invention I cut successive slices from a blockof wood and cause these slices of wood to pass between spiked rollerswhich crush and disintegrate the fiber, rendering it soft and broken, soas to readily ignite and rapidly burn. The wood employed is usuallyresinous wood, and unless this be crushed and otherwise disintegrated itwill not kindle or burn rapidly. Therefore 2 5 it is desirable to renderthis wood as fibrous as possible. Such wood is difficult to slice from ablock, owing to its hardness. Therefore my improved machine is equippedwith an improved cutter or slicer which slices boards or slabs ofsuitable size from the block and delivers them immediately to crushingrolls equipped with spikes which tear the fibers apart, rendering theslabs pliable and readily ignitible without tearing the fibers 5 to suchan extent that they separate from each other.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view, the spiked rolls being 40omitted. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a rear elevation.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the crushing-rolls,

the dotted lines showing the relative sizes of the rolls, which areseparated for clearness. Only a part of the rolls is shown equipped withthe spikes. Fig. 6 shows a vertical section of the knife on the line a;00 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the crushed slab or boardproduced by the machine.

The knife A is secured to the end of a frame B, connected by a pitman Owith a crank-shaft D, havingabalance-wheel E and a driving-pulley F,which may be operated in any suitable way. The crank-shaft is mounted inbearings G of suitable construction. The main frame H maybe of suchsize, shape, and construction as to best accommodatethe mechanism whichit supports.

The knife A is inclined rearward in opposite directions from the point aand is suitably beveled at its edge to most efficiently cut the slabs orboards from the block X. As this block is saturated with resin, it isvery hard, and it is desirable to have a knife which will most easilycut it without breakingthe slabs. The particular shape of knife employedenables me to make a shear out, which does the work most efficiently.The blade may be adjusted vertically by means of liners a, as shown inFig. 6, to vary the 7o thickness of the slabs cut from the block.

The frame B is'extended beyond the edge of the knife. Y It is slotted atI and is provided with atable or apron K. This table or apron, being apart of the knife-frame, reciprocafes back and forthwith it beneath theblock X, which is contained in the box J, and descends by its ownweight. The apron serves to support the block when the knife iswithdrawn from under it, as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 also shows how theapron supports the block while the knife is cutting it. Below the box Jand the cutting-knife'are arranged the crushingrolls M, and betweenthese rolls and the knife there is a guide-chute N, the opposite sidesat of which are inclined, as shown in Fig. 3, to cause the slabscut fromthe blocks X to pass into the bite of the rolls M.

The rolls M are mounted in a suitablyformed part it of the main frame.They may be geared together in any suitable way. As

shown, a belt-pulley O, which may be driven in any suitable way-forinstance, from the same shaft that drives the pulley-F.-is mounted on ashaft 0 of one of the upper crushing- 5 rolls. The shaft carries a largegear-wheel P, meshing with a smaller wheel P on a shaft 19, carrying apinion P, which gears with a large gear-wheel P on the opposite side ofthe machine. This wheel is mounted on a shaft 0' of one of the lowercrushing-rolls. The lower set of rolls have cog-wheels Q, which meshwith each other, as have also the upper rolls. By this means all of therolls are driven from the same pulley 0, it being observed that thelower rolls do not gear directly with the upper ones.

I-Ieretofore fluted rolls have been employed for disintegrating wood forkindling; but such crushing-rolls are not efficient. I have discoveredthat the best results are attained by employing spiked rolls of thekindillustrated in the drawings. The spikes B should be arranged in rows, asshown, and the rows of spikes on each pair of rolls should break joints,as most clearly indicated in Fig. 5, and should interlock, as shown inFig. 3. By this means the fibers are disintegrated, softened, and madereadily ignitible, as indicated in Fig. 7. It being remembered that thewood is resinous, it will be understood how the spiked crushin g-rollswill more thoroughly disintegrate the material than where fluted rollsare employed.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination substantially as set forth ofthe block guiding box, the knife pointed at its front central portionand having backwardly and laterally inclined edges,

the spiked crushing-rolls arranged below the knife, the guide-chuteinterposed between the cru shing-rolls and the knife, the slotted apronor frame arranged in front of the knife and movable simultaneouslytherewith for supporting the block to be out when the knife iswithdrawn, and means for reciprocating the knife and apron and foractuating the crushing-rolls.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the block-guidingbox, the slotted apron arranged beneath the box, a centrallypointedknife rigidly secured to the apron and having lateral andrearwardly-inclined cutting edges diverging from a cross-piece of theapron which is adapted to sustain the block when the knife is withdrawn,a guidechute arranged immediately below the knife and apron, thecrushing-rolls having rows of spikes breaking joints and interlocking asdescribed, and arranged below the guidechute, and means forreciprocating the knife and apron for actuating the rolls.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

WILLIAM S. MUNDAY.

Witnessesz.

JOHN FAIRLY, J. D. BENNETT.

